Building a Show Garden: My first show garden for the 2013 Northwest Flower and Garden Show

In just a matter of weeks, I’ll seemingly disappear (more so!) and hanging on for dear life as I coordinate the construction and installation of my very first show garden for the 2013 Northwest Flower and Garden Show.

The show’s overall theme “The Silver Screen: Gardens Go Hollywood” sparked an idea in my head shortly after the 2012 show and a meeting with the show’s long time show designer Cyle Eldred. I never intended to ever do a full show garden, but he convinced me that it was a great opportunity to showcase the work I do, get different colleagues involved, and take advantage of the extensive resources the show provides.

So, I took the plunge, typed up a few emails and dropped the exciting news to friends and colleagues who may be interested in contributing. Here’s what I came up with and proposed for the show:

This garden was inspired by themes and elements from the motion pictures Jurassic Park, King
Kong, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Rather than actually recreating
these movies in a show garden, my aim is to capture various aspects from these
films to depict a gardener’s dilemma: the desire for the newest, rarest and
most unusual and how man has stepped in to improve, protect, and alter plants
to satisfy the ever changing environments we live in.

“The Lost Gardener” transitions from a wild and mysterious island jungle of assorted woody and
herbaceous species and features a rope bridge that takes an explorer from the
forest and into a clearing where he encounters the iconic “Skull Island” as a
warning of the implications of what could happen to a wild species if removed
from its habitat.

A dry river bed of assorted dryland, alpine, bulbous species,
succulents and grasses transitionsto a more rigid and confined landscape with paved surfaces
and formally laid out planting schemes. It will also feature a fence like structure to represent
the high-voltage barriers in Jurassic Park, but instead of dinosaurs being
confined, it’s a rare and endangered plant species.

The garden will display the richest, most diverse
plant palette representing a number of small specialty growers in the Pacific
Northwest who have generously loaned their finest plants for this exhibit. Many
of these growers often keep a low profile or simply don’t have the time or
resources to have a display or presence at the flower show. It’s my full intent to support
the smaller, local growers who are a wealth of knowledge and expertise; this garden aims to
bring our community of adventurous plant nerds and geeks together in a cohesive
and sophisticated display that aims to encourage gardeners to seek out and grow
something new and extraordinary.

The conceptual sketch I drew out as a little preview. The skull island will most likely be done differently as the likelihood of finding a rock close to that shape is near impossible.

The past few weeks have involved emails with nurseries, meetings with contractors, tweaking the design and making sure I’m on top of what needs to happen now until February rolls around, so there isn’t much time.

I hope to have a blog post about each contributor for “Lost Gardener” so people can learn about the wonderful work they do.

I have a stash of plants being forced by a nursery in Sumner, WA called Windmill Gardens who have been hired by the show to force plant material for exhibitors. Here’s what things looked like when I came by to check on them: still a ways to go…less than 2 months!!